A Pitch From The Majors Money-losing Minor League Baseball Depends On Big League

September 23, 1985|By Selwyn Crawford of The Sentinel Staff

If the success of minor league baseball in Central Florida were measured in terms of profit and loss, the past season would have been a strikeout.

All three Central Florida minor league teams -- the Orlando Twins, the Osceola Astros and the Daytona Beach Islanders -- lost money this year. In fact, the Orlando Twins team has lost money every year since its inaugural season in 1963. The Osceola Astros and the Daytona Beach Islanders were both new teams this past season.

Only officials of the Islanders, however, said they considered the loss to be a problem. The reason is that the Osceola and Orlando teams are owned by the major league franchises of Houston and Minnesota, respectively. That means all money lost or made is passed on to the major league club.

Jim Rantz, assistant farm director for the Minnesota Twins, said there is no set amount his organization is willing to lose on the O-Twins, or any of its three minor league teams. But he indicated that if things get completely out of hand, it could mean the demise of the minor league system.

''When the cost gets too exorbitant, I think the first thing major league teams look to cut is their minor league clubs,'' Rantz said. ''We've all got budgets to follow, so the closer we get to that, the better off for everyone. We don't just say, 'Go out and spend money.' We're always trying to keep the cost down. But minor league baseball just doesn't make money.''

The Islanders are owned by a group based in Nashville, Tenn. That organization also owns four other minor league teams.

George Dyce, who oversees the operations of all five clubs for the group, said his organization is in the business to make money, which he said it does, overall.

Because of its losses in Daytona Beach this year, however, he said there is some consideration of moving the team.

Dyce said the Islanders have a working agreement with the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles that calls for the major league teams to supply the players and pay all their salaries. The other costs, such as equipment and road-trip expenses, are split between the Islanders and the major league clubs. For instance, the major league teams pay the travel bills (meal money and hotel) for the first 19 players on the Islanders, and the minor leaguers pick up the tab for the remaining players and staff, Dyce said.

''We're going to have a meeting here sometime in the next few weeks and decide what we're going to do with Daytona Beach,'' Dyce said by telephone from his Nashville office. ''We're either going to do one of two things: Either we'll sell, or operate it there differently than we did before.''

For example, Dyce said his group spent $60,000 to $70,000 on promotions for the Daytona Beach team last season, including T-shirt, cap and bat giveaways, and an appearance by the popular San Diego Chicken, who alone cost $4,800.

Dyce, who said the Islanders drew an average of 400 fans per game last season, said he believes the team's executives will keep the team in Daytona Beach ''as least one more year,'' but will probably cut down on both the dollar amount and number of promotions.

''If we could have averaged 1,500 or 2,000 fans per game, we could have made money,'' Dyce said. ''We highly promote in every area we're in, but it just doesn't work in the Florida cities. We're not looking at it from the standpoint that we've got to make money, but that's what we're in the business for.''

In Kissimmee, Osceola Astros general manager Don Miers said that, if his team can manage to break even next season, he and the Houston club that owns the team will be happy. Miers, who was general manager of the Daytona Beach Astros for four years before moving the team to Osceola last year, said it's only a matter of the fans in Osceola County getting used to the team being there.

How much it costs the respective owners to operate Central Florida's minor league teams varies depending on several factors.

For instance, O-Twins general manager Bob Willis estimated his club was responsible for about $1.25 million going into the Orlando economy for things such as fees paid for stadium rentals, leases, insurance, transportation, promotions, supplies and the purchase of food and beverages.

In Osceola, Miers figured things a bit differently, but he said his team still managed to come up with $190,000 worth of expenses, including $10,000 for stadium rental, $20,000 for travel, $28,000 for printing, $3,000 for phone calls and $7,000 in sales taxes.

In Osceola, Miers figured things a bit differently, but he said his team still managed to come up with $190,000 worth of expenses, including $10,000 for stadium rental, $20,000 for travel, $28,000 for printing, $3,000 for phone calls and $7,000 in sales taxes.